AKA at the Burgundy Wildcat: A Music Fest at the Vancouver Red Lion?!

Summer is for festing. The summer fests keep on rolling in, and this morning a pretty cool and different-sounding event has just been announced. It's staged by the folks at Mississippi Studios, but it's not taking place at the familiar venue we all know and love. No, the first-ever AKA will be held at the "Burgundy Wildcat"—a code name for the Red Lion hotel in Vancouver, Washington. Described as a "14 band staycation extravaganza," AKA is a jam-packed evening of bands with mysterious monikers, to take place in the Red Lion's Quay Bar on two indoor stages. All of these bands are local Portland acts that we're familiar with, but the fun of the event is that they're all performing under aliases.

Co-owner Kevin Cradock got the idea after the Mississippi Studios staff used the Vancouver Red Lion as a site for their staff retreats, and they sort of fell in love with the place. There's a terrace that overlooks the Columbia River, and the Quay Bar is described to me as quirky and nautical-themed; in fact, they're encouraging sailor getups for costume-inclined attendees. But the real fun of the thing is trying to figure out who's playing. Here's a list of the performing bands:

Like I said, these are all aliases (with the exception of Black Pussy and Kaylee Rob), and I should point out that Modest Mouth is not Modest Mouse. Two additional bands will be performing, but not even their aliases can be announced yet. It all goes down at the Vancouver Red Lion—excuse me, the Burgundy Wildcat—on Saturday, August 23. Music starts at 7 pm and goes 'til 2 in the morning. Hotel rooms are available, although it'll be a full house and they'll go fast. If you're attending AKA, you can use the discount code "AKA GO" to get a room for $89.

The event itself is $15 advance, $20 at the doors, and tickets are on sale here. You can also follow that link for the evening's schedule. There's free parking, but you can also catch the Amtrak (!) from downtown Portland for $6.50, and it stops right next to the hotel.

So! Any guesses as to who the heck's playing this thing? I can tell you that you've definitely heard of some of them.